Owen Smith blasted Tory Liam Fox, last night for setting up His first US trade office in North Carolina, a state hit by boycotts over a controversial new transgender law.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory introduced a law banning forcing transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their sex at birth.

It's led to a string of criticism and boycotts from major businesses and artists.

Dr Fox was named Britain's first International Trade Secretary by Theresa May this month, with a brief of improving business ties with the US after Brexit .

He said Fox's decision was either crass or offensive (Image: REUTERS)

Mr Smith told the Mirror: "Liam Fox has a poor record of standing up for LGBT rights, and I thought it pretty extraordinary of him, when there's been this furore over NC where the governor has introduced a law in March of this year that discriminates against Transgender people.

"It's so discriminatory that massive companies like PepsiCo and GE have boycotted the state. Bruce Springsteen and Bryan Adams, too. And where does our bloke choose for his first visit and open his very first office? The capital of North Carolina.

A furious Owen Smith laid into Liam Fox (Image: REUTERS)

"It is crass stupidity at best. And at worst it's genuinely offensive."

He made the comments after addressing his first public rally in London, speaking to around 500 supporters at Westminster's Emmanuel Centre.

During an animated speech he pledged to send £50 billion - a quarter of his proposed new infrastructure fund - to the North of England.

He also called for a ban on fracking, pledged to reinstate the department of Energy and Climate Change "on day one" if Labour came to power, and said the country should aim to build 300,000 new homes a year.

Around 500 people attended Mr Smith's London rally (Image: REUTERS)

The Department for International Trade is opening three new trade offices, in Raleigh, North Carolina, Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Diego, California.

Speaking in Chicago, today, Dr Fox said: said: "Our ambitious vision for an open and outward-looking UK economy includes growing our footprint in the most important markets around the world and these 3 cities offer exciting opportunities to boost trade and investment."

A spokesperson for the Department for International Trade said: "These locations were chosen because of their potential for UK trade and investment given their economic productivity and well-established research and development institutions and establishing a presence in these cities will help us to increase our reach across the United States to the benefit of British businesses."

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: "UK is a strong supporter of LGBT rights across the world and the US network participates in Pride events across the US. We amended our travel advice in light of laws passed in a number of US states, although the majority of US states have an outstanding record on LGBT rights.

"We are committed to ensuring that all LGBT people are free to live their lives in a safe and just environment and are opposed to all forms of discrimination.

"We will continue to work with governments and civil society to promote diversity and prevent discrimination on any grounds. "